Uninvited: A Rewrite
by Universalperson
Summary: An AU or rewrite of Titans East, Part II, and a prologue of sorts to my fic Teen Titans: Terror and Torment. Cyborg is now the leader of Titans East, but someone is not happy about it, and decides to pay a visit...FINISHED
1. A Guest

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own a character.**

(Begin fic)

* * *

**Steel City, New York: Titans East Tower**

The garage.

A bit empty, since this tower has only been occupied for a few days.

Resting in it was a car.

It was no ordinary car, obviously. Blue and white, it definitely was top of the line, probably not made by any normal manufacturer.

The T-Car. Cyborg's pride and joy. His greatest achievement.

And one he didn't rebuild all by himself.

There was a feature added to the car that he didn't know about.

Said feature was activated as the car turned a dark black.

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

"So, who wants waffles?"

Cyborg, new leader of Titans East, was busy making breakfast for his teammates and friends.

They all were sitting at the table. Speedy held a spoon up and looked at his image a bit.

Bumblebee, wearing a smirk, looked at Cyborg.

Aqualad, patient, calmly waited for his food.

And Mas y Menos were the polar opposite, utensils held in their hands, wiggling in their seats, unable to stand the suspense.

"¡Alimento de alimento de alimento de alimento de alimento!"

Cyborg chuckled. "Be patient, the food will be ready…"

He was interrupted by the sound of rushing air.

Cyborg turned around as across from him, blackness rose up from the floor.

In seconds, the Titans East were in fighting position…except Cyborg, who was staring at the rising figure with pure shock.

The thing came out—beaked head, black wings, sharp talons.

In short, a giant black bird.

The shadowy energies then retreated into themselves.

They disappeared, revealing a girl floating off the ground.

She landed gracefully, blue cloak flapping. Violet eyes looked out from the hood, which she took off. Blue hair, pale skin, and a ruby in the forehead revealed itself.

Cyborg murmured in shock. "Raven…"

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

Raven.

An exquisitely beautiful girl.

Beautiful…and cursed.

Cyborg stammered his words out. "Raven…What are you doing here?"

She responded in her typical monotone. "Keeping you from acting like an idiot."

She walked up to him, around the table, cloak swishing behind her, passing the startled Titans East team.

She continued. "I prefer that we keep this conversation private."

A wave of black, and they were both gone.

A few moments passed…and Speedy pulled out a communicator.

A communicator with an 'H'.

"Headmaster…one of the Titans has gone to see Cyborg."

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

Raven teleported them one level upward, right under the rooftop.

Cyborg looked around him, ascertained where he was, and turned to look into Raven's eyes.

"Okay Raven…did Robin put you up to this? Because I already told him—"

Raven cut him off. "Robin has been busy in the evidence room, investigating crimes that have already been solved months ago. Starfire is busy being more perky than usual. A _lot _more perky than usual. And Beast Boy…is busy moping around." _Moping around_, when connected to Beast Boy, was of course, code. "So with everyone else acting like an idiot, I took it upon myself to come here."

Cyborg looked downward. "Fair enough. But first, _how _did you get here? I know your abilities Raven…you can't teleport to a place unless you know it well enough."

Raven responded with a word. "The T-Car."

Cyborg's response was a "What?"

"The T-Car. I cast a spell on it, just in case something should happen. And something did." Raven's tone became ominous. "You left."

Cyborg scowled. And it wasn't just because Raven 'altered' his baby without him knowing. "Raven, I'm not going back. This is my home now. The team here needs me."

Raven sighed. "Your home is back in Jump City. The team there needs you more. And until you finally get that through your metallic skull, I'm not leaving here. Not until you do."

Cyborg smirked. "You'll be waiting awhile."

"It can't be worse than being alone with Beast Boy."

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

"Headmaster?" Speedy looked down at his communicator as Brother Blood's voice issued from it.

His tone was flabbergasted. _"I already told you! Get the Titan away from Cyborg. Convince the Titan to leave. We need to have Cyborg all alone in order to…recruit him."_

Speedy nodded, eyes glowing red. "Yes Headmaster."

His eyes returned to normal as he pocketed the HIVE communicator and turned to look up at the descending footsteps, along with the rest of the squad.

Cyborg waved a hand out to Raven. "Guys…this is Raven. She's going to be staying with us for awhile." Raven was utterly silent.

Speedy gave a smirk and sidled up to her. "I'm Speedy…I'm sure Robin told you about me. So…why's a cutie like you staying here?"

Speedy's smile turned to abject fear as Raven gave him a death glare that would make even the bravest man's blood run cold.

"Go away."

Speedy chuckled sheepishly as he followed the order, hand behind his head.

Cyborg stammered. "Erm…I'm sure you know Aqualad…"

The Atlantean in question walked up. "Good to see you again, Raven."

She answered in monotone. "Pleasure."

Cyborg waved a hand out again. "And this pair of twins is called Mas y Menos."

The Spanish Speedsters, who had a look of awe on them, immediately turned to childish grins. "¡Hola¡Nosotros somosMas y Menos, Maniáticos de la velocidad españoles y superhéroes!" They touched hands. "Mas y Menos, sí poderos!" They ran off and came back with blue sombreros and a picture, which they held up. "Viva le Guatemala."

It was a picture of them in front of a building. Raven was…flabbergasted.

"As you can tell…they're super fast and only speak Spanish." Cyborg grinned as he pointed out the last member. "And this here is Bumblebee."

Raven turned to her. "You were the spy on the HIVE, right?"

Bee nodded. "You're Raven. Sparky here"—she pointed to Cyborg—"told me a bit about you."

Raven turned to Cyborg, who immediately got nervous. "Oh really? What did he tell you?"

Bee smiled. "He just told me that you're the quiet, spiritual one who keeps to her room, meditates, and likes herbal tea." Her eyes narrowed. "And that you helped rebuild the T-Car."

"And added a few _features._" Cyborg's tone was accusatory. Raven only smirked in response.

BRIIING! BRIIING! BRIING!

Within seconds, the Titans East were at the main computer off the control room, Raven following them. Cyborg pushed a few buttons on the keyboard as he looked at the data.

"There's some trouble at the bank. Something's taking the cash and KO'ing the cops. Titans, GO!"

The Titans rushed out, except for Raven.

Cyborg paused, and looked back at her. "Well, aren't you coming?"

Raven was silent for a moment, then vanished in a stream of blackness.

Cyborg shook his head. "Typical Raven." He turned and ran out.

* * *

(Fade to black) 

**Postscripts: **Ahem…what is this, you say? Why it's a rewrite/AU of Teen Titans East, Part II. I was actually pretty disappointed with the episode, especially the ending…and the storyline that I had already made in my head? The episode kinda threw things out the window. Oh, I could rework the storyline with some effort…but why do that when you can alter the episode itself? That idea came to me, and I immediately set about writing this fic, which WILL connect to Teen Titans: Terror and Torment (which is on hold as of 2/3/04.) The idea to rewrite the episode came to me when my beta-reader, Blackshield, had some computer trouble. Basically, I was waiting to modify the chapter she was beta-reading…and…yeah, the rest came into place.

But the idea of Raven visiting Cyborg? That was an idea I had long before I decided to rewrite the episode. When it first popped into my head sometime after "Titans East Part I," I thought it would be a funny idea, nothing more…until this episode suddenly and abruptly wrote itself in my head.

Ahem…just so you know, Brother Blood won't turn himself into a robot (I prefer keeping him organic), and hopefully the ending will be a lot better than what happened on the show. Don't expect a scene where Brother Blood carves Cyborg up…but you can expect a heated battle.

Blackshield returns as my beta-reader, and boy, has she done an amazing job! I owe her many thanks for providing translations to Mas y Menos.

Read, review, and report errors. Thanks in advance.


	2. A Battle

**Disclaimer: I don't even own the name of the monster. I own it's appearance, but not it's name. Everything else is in the hands of whoever owns Teen Titans Animated and Comics.**

(Begin fic.)

* * *

**Steel City Bank.**

The tall, burly monster was humanoid; that was for certain. Its head was almost rectangular.

It was also entirely featureless. No eyes, mouth, nose, lips, hair. Just seamless, crackling yellowish-white.

The energy creature was picking up at least six sacks of money and carried them on its broad back. It was silent. It didn't complain. Not even when a blast of water knocked it backward.

The Titans East—Cyborg, Bumblebee, Aqualad, Speedy, and Mas y Menos—were all there, Aqualad having just drenched the thing.

Cyborg spoke up. "I dunno what you are, white boy, but I know your going to prison!" He fired his sonic cannon.

It had no discernable effect; the monster absorbed the energy. It then pounced with a speed contrary to its size. Aqualad was pinned down, his head striking the ground.

_Whoosh…_

Speedy, who got his name from his fast-firing of arrows, just sent a whole bunch of normal ones—without energy bolts—at the monster. They lodged in its body, and as the monster turned its head to Speedy…

The arrows were sucked right into its body.

Silently and quickly, it leapt up, grabbed Speedy with one hand, grabbed Bumblebee with another, and threw their heads together. They fell down, dazed.

Mas got atop Menos and they ran for a super-fast body slam.

The monster knocked them apart with a swing of its arm.

Cyborg growled as he got ready to charge.

FLASH! He was blinded…

And when his vision cleared, he saw his body was encased in rock.

"Ha-hah!" The laughter came from behind him, but then the skinny speaker came into view. Small black pupils contrasted against large white eyes. His black goatee was matched by his black costume which covered the top of his head. White dots covered the ears, while a band of the same color encircled his forehead. From the very top of his costume, what looked like a white fin jutted out.

His boots were white, with the heels being swirls of white, cut occasionally by black. Similar designs were around his neck, as well as his wrists which led up to white gloves, with a yellow bulge in the middle. Similar yellow bulges were around his white belt.

Finally, most revealing, was the light bulb on the man's chest. Cyborg placed him immediately. "Dr. Light."

The mad scientist chuckled. "You know, I came to Steel City to get away from you Titans, but it really doesn't matter in the end. This group is much weaker than the other one."

He smiled. "But where are my manners? I'd like to introduce you to my friend Dr. Jacob Finlay." He waved his hand towards the monster. "Or should I say, the _spirit _of my friend Dr. Jacob Finlay. We used to have our issues, but we patched things up, right Jacob?"

The monster nodded silently in agreement. Cyborg was just flabbergasted.

"Dude…you're just crazy."

Dr. Light laughed. "I know what your thinking. 'After I was sucked into the cloak of doom I utterly lost it.' But no. I lost it way before that." His expression became somber. "I used to be afraid of the dark. Oh yes, I was. Since Jacob died, his spirit was haunting me. Tormenting me. But only in the dark. I had to stay in the light, use the light. No…the witch didn't make me crazy. She _cured _me." His face then took on a happy expression as he looked up. "Imagine my surprise when the lights were off and Jacob no longer spoke to me. But I realized his spirit was still there, just silent. And so in respect, I gave him this body of light to inhabit. And now were partners in crime." He looked down at the trapped Cyborg. "Speaking of the witch, where is she?"

The answer was provided by a bolt of dark energy which struck the wall. The three parties turned around as Raven's soul-self flew out of the floor and faded into the dark girl.

"I'm right here, Dr. Light."

The scientist gave a twisted smile. "Very good. Jacob, give the witch my thanks."

The monster—Jacob—leapt at Raven. She dodged, levitated a large broken rock, and chucked it.

The rock slammed into the monster and pinned it against the wall. Jacob was stuck, as the rock was too big to absorb.

Raven turned around and was hit backwards by a blast of yellow energy from Dr. Light. Regaining her composure, she hurled debris at him with her powers.

Dr. Light countered by sending balls of energy at the objects, obliterating each one before they could hit.

WHAM! The very rock that Raven used to pin Jacob was sent right into her. Within seconds, she would hit the wall and the rock would squish her into paste.

FLASH! WHAM! Raven struck the wall and slid down. She slowly opened her eyes to look on the pieces of the rock, as well as Dr. Light and Jacob, each holding their own bushel of cash.

The mad scientist smiled. "I figured the best way to thank you is by saving your life. Come along Jacob, we're done here." The construction of light nodded.

"Oh no you don't." With an effort of exertion, Cyborg broke out of the rock and charged straight into Dr. Light. "Oof!" Cyborg picked him up and gave him a quick punch the mid-section, knocking him against the wall and harmlessly short-circuiting his suit.

Jacob then put his hands together and proceeded to slam his fists at Cyborg, but he quickly dodged out of the way as the construction of light gouged a small crater. Cyborg readied his cannon and fired.

The monster absorbed the blast yet again, but this time Cyborg kept the pressure on. Jacob at first kept his position…but then seemed to lose his balance.

Dr. Arthur Light opened his eyes. "Jacob! No!"

The sonic energy was reacting to the pure light of the creature. It was gradually getting bigger…and more unstable. Its body began to crackle more as it knelt to the floor, put its hands over where its ears would be, and uttered an unnervingly human scream.

"AHHHHHH!"

"JACOB!"

FLASH! The room filled with white. In reflex, Cyborg shut down his cannon and covered his eyes with a hand. It had no real effect; his vision was still swamped by the light.

Luckily, his mechanical optic could adjust quicker than the other. When half of his vision returned, he saw Dr. Light, suit broken, cradling a small ball of energy in his hands.

"It'll be alright Jacob…I'll fix you up, I swear…it'll all be okay."

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

A police van came and left. The heroes of the day were standing in the damaged bank. Already, cleaning crews had come in.

Bumblebee spoke. "So I'm guessing you fought Dr. Light before..."

Raven sighed. "I was having a bad day the first time I fought him…"

The Spanish twins ran up, Mas on Menos, and gave her a pair of pats on the back. "Oye, tenemos días malos."

Raven looked at them. "I don't know what you said…but thank you anyway."

The twins smiled in their childish way.

Aqualad massaged his head. "I'm assuming he didn't always have a companion."

Speedy muttered. "I'm assuming he didn't crack my skull."

Cyborg only smiled. "Hey, we won. C'mon…let's get some pizza…and Raven?"

Their eyes met. "Yes?"

"Thanks…y'know, for helping. You really are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like."

Raven only silently nodded. "Thank you, Cyborg."

* * *

(Fade to black…)

**Postscript**: Dr. Light's story? Straight from the comics. Although he never did create a construction of light that he 'thought' was his best friend and companion. Still…Dr. Light has a sidekick now.

Again, muchos gracias to beta-reader Blackshield.


	3. A Few Conversations

**Special Notice: This is the chapter that may cause you to swallow a couple hinting that may give you…indigestion. If you don't like it, please note that a.) You already could sort of guess this was coming in the first chapter and b.) I can't help myself. Really, I can't.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own a thing. Blah Blah Blah.**

(Begin fic)

* * *

**Titans East Tower**

Nighttime.

In the Tower, someone was walking.

Pacing… wandering… looking around.

Searching… for nothing.

Raven looked around herself and sighed.

She couldn't sleep. Another attack of insomnia.

Back west, she could simply go up on the rooftop and watch the stars.

But the smoke blocked out the stars. And outside it was cold.

Raven hated being cold.

So she wandered the cold blue Tower.

Her mind was lost in thought.

'_Cyborg…why did you leave…why did I follow you?'

* * *

_

**Earlier…**

Raven had brought a book. She was sitting on a couch, ignoring everything going on around her.

The Titans East quickly learned that the dark girl was not much of a talker, and preferred to be by herself. They generally left her alone.

She was lost in the pages… but one part of her mind was pondering a question.

'_How should I get Cyborg to come back?'_

Raven knew that it would be a task. Cyborg had a tendency to be stubborn.

She already knew why he left. She knew the moment she heard he left.

Part of the problem was Robin. He had been more of an aggressive leader in the past few weeks, probably as a result of "the dust incident." Not to mention Starfire almost getting married, Red X coming back, and, oh yes, Beast Boy utterly losing it.

'_I hope he's not losing it now.' _Poor Beast Boy.

Of all the Titans, she had completely misjudged him. At first, she thought he was an idiot who enjoyed pranks for the fun of it. Then her opinion changed to someone who just wanted to make other people happy, even if he does a bad job of it. And more recently…

'_I never knew he had such anger in him. He hides it well, especially from himself.'_

Of course, Cyborg got angry too. And that is another key of the puzzle.

Brother Blood. She perfectly understood why Cyborg was so fed up with him. Reading Cyborg's blueprints was, in some ways, looking into his soul. That…and it painfully reminded Cyborg that he wasn't fully human.

But Cyborg was no Robin. And he wasn't one to leave permanently over a few arguments. She paused in her reading to look around the room.

The last key to the puzzle was in the Titans East group itself. And it was probably the straw that broke the camel's back.

'_These people respect him…and not just because he's a superhero, but because of who he is. And Cyborg always needs that. Plus, they needed someone to stay in charge.'_

She understood what was going on. But that didn't stop the fact that Cyborg was being selfish, and that the Titans East had to look for guidance in themselves.

She returned to her book, reading the story… when a sentence caught her attention.

"Wanna help me with the T-Car?"

"Sure."

Raven put down her book.

There they were, Cyborg and Bumblebee, going down into the garage to work on the "baby" of the former.

A little voice in her head spoke up. _"But I'm the one who helps with the T-Car!"_

Said voice was accompanied by part of the couch exploding, sending out a small cloud of stuffing.

She inwardly groaned. _'Of all the times for a small slip…'_

She looked around. No-one noticed.

Carefully, she levitated the white stuffing back in the hole of the blue couch. She would tell someone about it later.

* * *

**Later**

"…and then I said 'Why are we hiding?' and Beast Boy shushed at me before he found out who I was. He said 'Cyborg! You can't be Cyborg!' And I said 'I can't?' I had no idea what he was doing, you see."

Bumblebee laughed at that. They were coming into the room, a bit dirty. Bumblebee had a streak of grease on her cheek.

Raven put down her book…although she wasn't really reading it. She was sitting on the couch, waiting for them to come back.

"And Starfire called him… wait for it… a _clorbag varblernelk_. You remember that, right Raven?"

She muttered. "You mean that time when Beast Boy tried to hit you with motor oil and Starfire got hit instead? I have no clue what you are talking about."

There was some laughter from everyone else except a rather shocked Cyborg.

"Yes Cyborg, I just made a joke. Don't treat it like it's the end of the world."

"Heh heh…sorry Raven…"

Bumblebee turned to him. "Why should you be surprised, Sparky? That's the effect you have on people."

Cyborg chuckled a bit.

Raven got up and walked out to the spare room prepared for her. _'I need to meditate.'_

Bumblebee continued. "That's why you're the leader of this team."

"Aw Bee, you're sweet."

When she got to the room, her mouth was sore. She then realized she was biting down on her teeth on the way there.

* * *

**Present**

Raven couldn't understand any of this.

'_How can I get him to come back? How can I stop him from acting like an idiot? Why do I even care? People come, and people go? But why is it that whenever he's around Bumblebee…I get so…so…'_

"_Jealous?"_

Her eyes opened for a bit, then closed.

In her mind's eye, she saw what spoke. Dressed in a cloak of lavender, with a mysterious knowing smile.

"_What do you mean by that?"_

The emotion…friendship, affection, whatever you want to call it, kept smiling that mysterious smile.

She never did talk much…

Raven went back to the real world and continued to wander across the tower.

"Bad night, huh?"

With a swish, Raven quickly turned around to look at the yellow and black form of Bumblebee.

Raven muttered truthfully, "I've had better."

Bumblebee chuckled to herself. "Some people just can't adapt to the East… I don't mind the cold, of course, but…"

"It's not the cold." Raven sighed. It wasn't the cold; even though she hated it, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was staring at her right in the face.

She started with a small question. "Why do you call Cyborg 'Sparky'?"

Bumblebee chuckled. "Heh heh heh…it's more of a personal joke, really." She then whipped out her force lasers. "My 'stingers' used to look a little like his circuitry… and they always had this tendency to… well… spark."

Raven nodded. "I see."

"Heh… Sparky hated it when I called him that… at first. He doesn't seem to mind now."

"He's been with Beast Boy. Trust me, when you're with Beast Boy, you get used to many things."

Bumblebee chuckled again, while Raven remained silent. She gave a sigh and spoke again.

"Tell me… how did you end up spying on the HIVE in the first place?"

Bumblebee's laugh ended abruptly. She stared at Raven, shocked.

"Well?"

Bumblebee sighed. "Well… you know… I've been hearing what the HIVE had been up to… I'm a bee after all, and so I decided to investigate."

"And Brother Blood's hypnosis."

Bee smirked. "No man can tell me what to do."

"Seriously."

Her smile faded. "Well… I guess I had a bigger will than he gave me credit for. I threw it off and let him think I was under his control."

Raven nodded to herself.

"Yes…" she muttered. "You do look like you can get information easily, what with your shrinking powers…and you do sound like the kind of person that wouldn't easily succumb to mind control. But there's one problem. None of it is true."

Bumblebee's face turned shock. "Wha—?"

"You're lying. Tell me the truth. Now." Her face then changed… not in expression, but in some undefined way that seemed to give a more… fearful presence.

Bumblebee growled. "I don't know, okay? In case you don't know, I'm not a hundred percent normal human being…I made the wings and the stingers, but the shrinking? That's all me. And I don't know what else I have. Understand?"

Raven merely stared.

She could tell when Bumblebee was lying before, but the talk about her powers seemed to be very taxing for her emotionally-Bumblebee's mind suddenly filled with a fear... and that fear didn't look recent.

Raven sighed again, and closed her eyes. "You don't like to talk about your powers. Believe me, I understand _that _all too well. But listen to me, Bumblebee." She opened her eyes. "Have you ever heard of the Sixth Titan?"

She slowly nodded. "I heard… it wasn't pleasant, wasn't it? Pretending to be your friend, when really…" she trailed off, her words suddenly beginning to sting herself.

Raven sighed. "When she came along asking to join our team, I could tell there was something wrong. I could tell that she was afraid… of _something. _I saw that she could be dangerous… and I did nothing about it. I passed it off as nerves. And then of course… well, I think you've heard of the whole mess. I'm still surprised there were no casualties. But since then, I have learned that if I feel I can't trust someone… I can't trust someone."

Raven fixed Bumblebee with her gaze. "I'll pretend you didn't lie to me… _for now._ But if you _ever _do anything to hurt my friends, I will go after you. And I will make what happened to Dr. Light look like a slap on the wrist." She threw Bumblebee's own word back at her. "Understand?"

Bumblebee scowled. "Yeah, I understand. I understand that you're _jealous._"

Raven eyes widened, surprised by that word, but she quickly regained her composure. "I don't do jealous."

Bumblebee snorted. "Yeah, right. And you don't do fear either. Sparky told me 'bout that time you turned you Tower into a haunted house."

Raven's already cold expression lowered by ten degrees. With a swish, she stormed off.

When she was safely out of earshot, Bumblebee groaned and shook her head, pulling out the HIVE communicator.

"Headmaster?"

Brother Blood's voice came through, his tone abrupt, as though he was being interrupted from something important. _"I'm busy. Make this quick."_

Bumblebee grabbed her head with one hand. "This… everything… feels just wrong… Ah! My head!" She began to kneel downward.

From the communicator, Blood was heard sighing. Suddenly it glowed red with long distance mental-slash-magical power.

The energy ran up Bumblebee's arm and into her eyes. Suddenly she got back up, eyes glowing red.

"_You were saying?"_

"I will follow you orders Headmaster. Raven will be leaving this Tower."

"_Good. Now don't call me for awhile, I'm very…did you say _Raven?_"_

"Yes Headmaster," she replied quizzically. "I thought someone told you already."

"_No. No-one did." _There was silence for a moment on the other end. _"Bumblebee, wake up the other students. There has been a change of plans."_

"Yes Headmaster." She pocketed the communicator and left for the other… 'students'.

* * *

"Rav hee betohch shelanoo yadaiyim_!"_

"Mesabach._"

* * *

_

**A few hours later.**

Raven still paced around, wandering and walking…

She looked to the left. Foreboding blue walls. And blue was her favorite color.

She looked to the right. A window facing out into the sea. And staring through it.

"Cyborg?"

The metal man turned around. There was silence for a moment before he replied.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Yeah."

More silence. They just stared at each other.

Finally, Raven spoke up.

"Why did you leave, Cyborg?"

He sighed. "They needed a leader. You should have seen them, Raven. They were utterly disorganized, no teamwork whatsoever."

"That's just like our team. We got through it, and this team can too. You know that. I know that."

Silence.

Raven sighed. "Is this about Brother Blood?"

Cyborg chuckled. "Are you sure you don't have me confused with Robin?"

"You are the leader of this team."

He smirked. "Touché. But I have a reason, at least." His face became hard. "He STOLE my BLUEPRINTS! And… Raven, the day I came, he sent these robots JUST LIKE ME!"

"I know what it's like to fight yourself… believe me…"

"It's not that, Raven… he's like… stealing! Stealing from the very things that make me who I am!" His voice was frantic.

"Your body does not make you who you are. You know that."

Cyborg sighed. In a lower, defeated tone: "Yeah… I do"

Silence again.

"Cyborg… really… why did you leave us?"

He sighed. "Well…"

"Tell me."

"These people respect me here. Not because of what I can do, but who I am. No-one on the Titans ever respected me like that. Robin respects me as a partner; Beast Boy respects me for my video game talent. But no-one respects me as the person I am! No-one respects me as a human being!"

Raven grimaced as he said that. Finally, she had enough.

"Cyborg, you _idiot!_" Something cracked as she said the words. Making her voice lower: "Of course we respect you as a human being. Robin would be the first to say that you are a good friend, and the one who cares for everyone else the most. What about Starfire? She treats her friends as though they were the last ones she would ever have. Beast Boy... You and Beast Boy are best friends, almost brothers. Do you know what made me come here? He was _crying_, Cyborg. Crying in front of the statue. For him, it's Terra all over again. And the others… I can see it in their emotions… they're hurting…"

Cyborg was taken aback by the last words. _'BB... why did I forget that?'' _

"Cyborg, you're the one that keeps us together, even more than Starfire. You can relate to us… all of us… and by doing so you help us relate to others. And you leaving… it's like… it's like… you never really cared for us, Cyborg… and it hurts…"

She wrapped her cloak around her as she turned her head down her face sad, eyes closed.

"Cyborg… in the whole team… I feel you're the only one who really understands me. You never try to pry into my personal life… but you still care about me… you still understand me... I had no friends in Azarath, Cyborg. They were either afraid of me, ignored me, or tried to do things I just couldn't do or ask questions that would hurt to answer… But you never did that… you always let things slide, but you made sure I was okay… you make sure everyone is okay… Cyborg… you need to come back… they miss you… _I _miss you…" Something came down Raven's face.

A tear.

Suddenly, she felt a gentle embrace around her. Her face turned up in shock for a moment; then relaxed. She slowly returned the gesture…

"Raven… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry… I just felt no-one cared… I thought they'd all be fine… I didn't know how much I was hurting y'all… I'm sorry… so sorry…" A small tear came out from his organic eye.

She slowly but firmly pushed him away and looked into his eyes. "Are you coming back?"

He nodded. "Not now… but I'm coming back..." He looked around him. "They don't need me here… they need me more back at home… my real home…" He stomped on the ground. "I've been such an idiot!"

She gave a smile. "No more than you usually are."

In a surprising gesture, she grabbed his metallic hand and gave a squeeze.

She then turned and left.

Cyborg stared at the hand for a moment, and then turned around to make plans.

* * *

**Titans West Tower: Late in the afternoon.**

"Please, Robin, have some breakfast."

"I'm busy Starfire."

He always said that since Cyborg left. Since Raven followed him, with a message saying that she would come back with him. A message Starfire began to stop hoping in. Especially when she looked at Robin. Whenever she came to ask him to eat, to play, to live, he just said he was busy.

_He just said he was busy._

"Robin… I know that Cyborg and Raven are gone…"

"This isn't about them." His reply was cold.

She turned her head downward. "… If that is what you wish."

As she left he turned to look at her silently floating out of the room.

Somewhere inside of Robin, a voice spoke up. _"Look at her! She's already lost two friends, and now she thinks she's losing another! Do something Robin! Talk to her, hug her, ask about Tamaran, but let her know you care for her! She needs it more than ever!"_

Robin pushed that voice into a dark corner of his mind as he returned to his work.

Yes, work. What better way to drown out sorrow then by burying your mind in it?

Just as Starfire was about to leave, she was barreled over by a rushing Beast Boy.

Robin turned around to look as the quickly stood up.

Beast Boy urgently spoke. "You two _have got_ to see this. Seriously."

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

**Main Room**

"I just came home from… well, I saw this on the TV screen."

He motioned to the large window slash television, which was now showing what looked to be video recordings.

Video recordings of Titans East.

Recording of Titans East and…

"_He suspects nothing."_

"_Good."_

The camera, which had focused on Aqualad, now shifted behind him to show what he held in his hand.

A HIVE communicator.

The image then snapped to another one, obviously later.

"_Headmaster?"_

"_I already told you! Get the Titan away from Cyborg. Convince the Titan to leave. We need to have Cyborg all alone in order to…recruit him."_

Starfire murmured. "Their eyes are red."

The boys were silent as the last picture came up.

The—now obviously brainwashed—Titans East were all in this picture, Bumblebee holding the communicator.

"_We'll have Mas y Menos wake her up. The when she enters the main room…you strike._"

"_And Cyborg?"_

"_Alter his computer so that he won't cause…unnecessary interruptions. And do it quickly. We must strike tomorrow night."_

The camera then swung around to reveal a calendar with the current date.

Yesterday's date. The image then faded into static fuzz, and turned back into a clear window.

Robin quickly spoke. "Get the T-Ship ready. We're going to pay a visit of our own."

Starfire and Beast Boy were already off.

* * *

(Fade to black…) 

**Postscripts: **What can I say? I like Cy/Rae. Hey, that rhymed.

It was "Car Trouble", you see, that did it in for me. All because of that big smile in the end…but I ramble.

Big action scene shows up in the next chapter, although some of the lingering questions probably won't be answered…for awhile. (It's sorta kinda obvious though.)

I'd like to also mention this: Who here liked "Birthmark?" Raises hand.

This chapter came out a bit screwy, but I think it'll pass. Thanks again to Blackshield for beta-reading this.

Oh…I almost forgot- the stuff on Bumblebee's powers is somewhat made up. In the comics, all her powers came from her suit, which she built herself…but in the comics, she couldn't shrink.


	4. An Ambush

**Discalimer: Blah blah blah, owned by DC or whoever.**

(Begin fic)

* * *

**Titans East Tower**

SWISH!

Raven woke up instantly.

The first thing she saw was the automated door close.

_Somebody looked in my room!_

Raven then quickly remembered that she wasn't in the West Tower.

But still… someone was watching her.

Swish! She grabbed her cloak and stepped out through the door.

She wandered quietly throughout the rooms, senses—physical and otherwise—on full alert for anything.

She walked over to the main hallway and immediately sensed a life on the couch.

She projected her soul-self and slipped into the floor.

The bird's shadow moved.

The bird's shadow rose.

The bird's shadow surprised a resting Bumblebee.

"Wahhh!"

The soul-self retreated back into Raven.

Bumblebee gasped. "Girl, don't do that again."

Raven only muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as last time, couldn't sleep."

Raven looked around her. "You didn't see anyone?"

"No, why?"

Raven turned around. "Someone was in my room."

Bumblebee gave a cruel smirk as she took out her weapons and fired. Raven quickly turned around and blocked the beam with her black shield.

"I knew it!"

Bumblebee said nothing as she gave a quick series of punches.

Raven quickly blocked with shadow shields, finally sending a talon straight into her midsection.

WHAM! Bumblebee skidded across the floor.

Raven levitated the couch and swung it at Bumblebee.

SWOOSH! She was gone well before the couch hit. SWOOSH! Raven was body-slammed by a pair of Spanish twins.

She looked up at the smirking faces of Mas y Menos. "Buenos noches, senorita Raven."

She growled as she projected her soul-self again and rose into the air.

SPLOOSH! A cylinder of water came out from the nearby pool and slammed into her, dissipating the bird, and knocking her against the wall.

_Whoo whoo whoo_. Several arrows stuck in her cloak, ripping through the fabric and sticking to the wall.

Speedy put down his bow as Aqualad leaped out of the water.

Now Raven was shocked. "Aqualad… what are you doing?"

"Following the Headmaster's orders."

His eyes then glowed red.

_All _of their eyes glowed red.

Comprehension then dawned on Raven's face. _'They're being controlled.'_

Close on its heels: _'How come I wasn't able to sense it?'_

There was a flash of red.

Suddenly a figure appeared. White robes and hair, with piercing blue eyes.

"Raven. A pleasure to meet you." He smiled.

Raven yelled. "Cyborg—!"

"—Won't be joining us." His expression didn't change.

Bumblebee spoke up. "We reprogrammed his recharging station. He won't be waking up."

Speedy chuckled. "You can scream all you like."

Raven ignored him and looked directly at the man. "You're Brother Blood."

He laughed. "So you've heard of me! I must say, I haven't seen another psychic sorcerer is _such _a long time."

"How come I wasn't able to sense your mind control?"

"I wouldn't call it _mind control_… it's more of a mental suggestion, which my good students listen to." He indicated them with his hand. "But for your question, sometimes _they _don't know they're my students. I've had _years _of practice, you see."

He then leaned down. Raven's face was filled with fear.

"Don't worry, dear child. Everything will soon be okay." His eyes glowed.

And Raven felt him in her _head, _looking into it, prying into it, trying to change it…

"_Get out!"_

Her eyes glowed a bright white as Brother Blood was flung backwards.

Immediately, she covered herself with shadows and glided out of the arrows. She reappeared in a fighting stance.

The other Titans went into stances of their own, but were surprised by Brother Blood's laughter.

"At ease, students." He got up and sighed. "Another discipline problem. One I guess I should have expected. Tell me child, how _did _you get those powers?"

Raven replied by flinging the floor tiles.

Brother Blood stretched his hand and put up a red shield. The tiles bounced off, the black energy dissipated.

"Watch the Headmaster at work, students." He flung off his white robes to reveal his red fighting outfit. Raven sensed a touch of magic though. How else did he suddenly gain those silver gloves?

With a war cry, he ran up, jumped, and dive kicked.

Raven waved her hand and a small shadow wall blocked the attack. Blood leapt nimbly to the ground and began a series of punches.

Raven successfully blocked the blows.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Three black talons came out from behind her.

Blood glowed with red energy as he teleported away. The claws swirled around in the air, then flung at him as he reappeared at the balcony.

Blood's eyes glowed red as he spoke his own magic words.

"Nat T'yall Ha!" He flung three red balls of energy.

They flew right into the talons, and stopped them in mid air.

They left a small circle of red energy, which increased, turning the talons black into red, replacing the shadows with its own red energies. The claws were consumed by red, and vanished into thin air.

Basically, it was a counter spell.

Blood teleported again, this time reappearing at her side. He threw out two punches and a kick.

She dodged the punches and blocked the kick with the black shadow wall, but it knocked her backwards.

Blood's face turned into determination as his eyes glowed. Raising his hands, they sparkled with energy as he thrust them out in front of him, palms facing the ground, hands outstretched.

Crackling red electricity spewed out of his fingers as Raven put up a larger black wall to block it. Blood thrust his hands again as Raven was pressed backwards.

FLASH! The shield broke. Raven was flung across the pool and into the wall.

Brother Blood smiled, eyes normal, and walked forward.

"So, you're from Azarath."

Raven looked up and blinked. He was quite literally walking on the water of the pool. He then stopped, a short distance from her, but still with both feet firmly on the water.

"That's a bit odd. I thought it was utterly destroyed."

She stood up, her eyes suspicious, her tone accusatory. "How do you know about Azarath?"

He laughed. "Child, I'm a sorcerer! I keep on top of these things!" He spoke as though she should know this information already.

He then put his silver gauntleted hand on his chin, his face lost in thought. "Although if I remember correctly, it was dedicated to peace. Hardly a place for attack magic."

Raven responded by lifting up her hands. Her eyes glowed white as the waters glowed black.

Brother Blood looked down and leapt backwards off the pool as the waters sprang upward. Moving her hand again, she threw them at him.

Brother Blood's eyes glowed again, as he put out his hands.

This time, red fire sprang up out of them, created a fine white steam as it hit the water.

The mist covered everything for a few moments.

"_Caw!" _A black bird flew out of the mist and grabbed Blood with a talon.

It flew upwards, ready to smash him into the ground.

Blood merely grabbed the claw with his hands and pumped red energies into the soul-self.

"_CAHHHH!" _The bird reared back and screamed as it quickly turned back into Raven and feel to the ground.

Brother Blood was dropped but quickly landed on his feet.

Raven shook her head and looked up as Blood advanced on her again.

"You're holding back."

Raven's eyes widened at that admission.

"You are. Don't deny it." He looked down. "Let me tell you, I always have had discipline problems. Some people just seem to slip out of my grasp. Cyborg is a unique case; I can't even affect him. But _you, _you can utterly and completely force me out of my mind. But when _I _was your age, I was much more powerful than you were. Why aren't you showing me your true strength? Don't you want to defeat me?"

Raven's eyes narrowed. Brother Blood's face twisted into a smile.

"Oh, I get it. It's all that Azarathian pacifism." He shook his head. "Even in the face of adversity, they wouldn't attack. How pathetic"

"Gah!"

Brother Blood was flung backwards by Raven's outburst of energy.

"Oof!" He fell to the ground.

The magical combatants got up. Raven closed her eyes and began to breathe.

Brother Blood started to chuckled. Then he started to laugh. A high, crazy laugh.

Raven muttered, "There is nothing funny to laugh about."

"Ha ha ha! Oh, dear child, _there is_! You can't control your abilities, can't you?"

Raven's eyes widened with shock.

"Oh yes, I've seen it all the time. Poor little kids who have amazing strength that they can't fully use. They try to bottle it up, but the more they try, the worse things get. I've seen what happens to those children. They attempt to contain their powers, but the powers break out of them. It is their own 'control' that causes _so much destruction_! And you are a typical case."

He advanced a bit. "Let it out, child. Let it all out. By containing your abilities, you only make them more random. Free yourself of these walls! Let your powers run wild!" He stretched out his hands. "Free yourself!"

There was silence for a moment, which was broken by a simple, "No."

"No? Why no? Is it that Azarath desire for peace? I think you know what that got them into, am I right?"

Raven growled. "You know _nothing._"

(_'control yourself Raven, don't let him get to you, don't let it out…')_

"I know enough. I know that you probably had some of the _worst teachers in existence_!"

She closed her eyes, clutching her hands over her head. Memories fought to the surface, trying to break free. "Stop it." It was a command.

"You're afraid. They made you afraid. They made you fear your powers. They did not give you control; _they took it away._"

A memory broke free: _"…I put you in Azarath to contain your powers. For the more you resisted, the stronger you became…the stronger your true self became…"_

"Enough!" Her voice had emotion in it now, her mind was spiraling, the energies were spilling, in her mind, a cage was opening…

"They could not help you, Raven. **They could not help themselves**." His voice changed into something more demonic. "**They were all WEAK!**"

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

"_**They were all weak, daughter.**"_

"_No!"_

"**_They were all weak. All of them. Weak little insects. All weak. Your mother most of all._**"

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

"**THEY WERE NOT!**"

Her four red eyes opened as she grew to an imposing height, black tentacles coming out of her cloak.

Brother Blood's face turned to shock as she swung a tentacle at him.

"**You don't know anything about me!**" She raised her hands, and a humongous ball of dark energy grew in them. When it was big enough, she threw it.

Blood teleported just out of the way of an immense geyser of black; reappearing in its place.

"**GAHHHHH!**" She swung another tentacle at him.

His eyes glowed as he muttered words, words that can't be properly written, words that shouldn't be spoken.

And he caught the tentacle in mid air.

The energy rushed up, and Raven gave a demonic groan.

"**GWOOOHH**HHHuhhhhh."

Four eyes returned to two. The tentacles vanished. Raven's growth spurt was gone as she collapsed to the ground.

Once again Brother Blood stood over her.

She looked up at him in fear.

And he smiled an evil smile.

ZAP!

Energy raced outwards and smashed into the target.

Energy… from the side. Energy that attacked Brother Blood.

Energy that was blue and white.

"Raven!" Cyborg ran up. Blood was pushed out of the way by the sonic blast.

_Whoo whoo whoo_! Speedy fired a machine gun barrage at the metal man.

He opened his shoulders and fired his missiles.

BOOM BOOM BOOM! The projectiles destroyed each other in midair.

Mas y Menos then each grabbed the other's hand.

Cyborg timed it just right…

WHUMP! He swung with his arm right as they were about to hit. They were knocked over like bowling pins.

ZAP! SPLURCH! A two-pronged attack of water and force energy aimed at the two Titans.

Suddenly, Raven grabbed Cyborg and encased them both in black.

The soul-self flew upward in another large green room and dropped them off.

"Raven…" Cyborg murmured gently. "Are you okay?"

He helped her up as she shook her head. "I will be… how did you wake up?"

His face straight. "I didn't hear you scream, Raven. I _felt _it."

SLAM! The wall broke open with another torrent of water.

Walking through it were the brainwashed members of Titans East and their new Headmaster.

"Ah, Cyborg, I didn't expect to see you awake." He then began to scowl. "You defy me even in your sleeping habits."

"Well Brother Blood, I didn't expect to see you BRAINWASH MY TEAM!"

He readied his cannon as Raven readied her psychic magic.

Brother Blood's expression softened as he began to chuckle. "Give it up, Cyborg. Counting Mas y Menos as one, you're outnumbered, five to two."

And a new voice rang out. A confident voice.

"Guess we'll just even up those odds."

BOOM! Explosions from behind them created a smokescreen. SHING SHING SHING! Green energies impacted into Bumblebee and Mas y Menos. "ROAR!" A green triceratops ran through Aqualad and Speedy.

Brother Blood looked around through the smoke as he was suddenly hit in the midsection by a staff.

The smoke dissipated, and Cyborg and Raven saw the happy faces of their saviors.

"Cyborg! Raven!"

"Thank X'hal you are well!" Starfire and Beast Boy were looking at them, smiles on their faces.

Robin nimbly jumped to their position "Good to see you, Cyborg."

The man in question smiled. "Good to see you too, Robin."

"Well well well, what have we here?"

Brother Blood had already gotten up, his students flanking him. "So you three are paying your friends a visit. Well, YOU WEREN'T INVITED!" His face contorted with anger, his fists clenched in rage.

Robin chuckled, a smile on his face. "Oh, I think we were. Someone tipped us off to what you were doing."

Cyborg then gave a smile. "Really? Someone up there must like me then."

Brother Blood barked a command. "Students, ATTACK!"

He then pounced forward like a cat, knocking Cyborg into the floor. They glowed red as they disappeared.

The other students charged.

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

They reappeared on the rooftop. Blood quickly slid Cyborg across the floor.

"I did not want to be interrupted."

Cyborg got up. "I wouldn't have had it any other way."

There was a standoff of sorts, each bating the other to make the first move.

Then they charged.

"Gahhhh!" Cyborg threw a punch.

Blood grabbed it, leapt up, and delivered a two kick combo, letting go of the arm.

Cyborg regained his balance as the evil priest was on him again, a charging punch, a pair of hooks, and an uppercut. All of which hit.

Brother Blood grabbed his opponent's neck. "Cyborg, I've always wondered: Do you bleed?"

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

Speedy and Robin fought yet again, except this time, under much more different circumstances.

Robin barely outran the arrows, but Speedy countered his every offense, either by deflecting his projectiles or blocking with his bow.

Aqualad was locked in combat with Beast Boy. The former jumped over a green bull.

Beast Boy snorted a charged again.

Aqualad looked behind him, and thrust out his hands. Pipes broke out of the wall and sent a torrent straight at the bull, washing him out.

SHING SHING SHING! Starfire was attempting to hit the ever quick Mas y Menos. Needless to say, it was hard.

And Bumblebee…

Bumblebee was locked in combat with Raven. Black telekinesis was dodged. Force lasers were blocked. Talons were evaded by shrinking. Flying fists were evaded by the soul-self.

Basically, a deadlock.

"_Bumblebee."_

She paused momentarily at the sudden voice in her head, then barely dodged a broken piece of wall, now glowing black.

"_Bumblebee."_

She shook her head, trying to clear the voice.

"_Have you already forgotten, Bumblebee?"_

"Gah!" She began to grab her head.

Raven, who was preparing a telekinetic blast, stopped.

"_This is not you Bumblebee. This is not what you wanted to be."_

Bumblebee gave a broken mental reply. _"Who…are…you?"_

"_You know who I am Bumblebee. And you know I only desire to help."_

She opened her eyes… and they glowed a brilliant white.

"_Bumblebee, awaken."_

The radiance shot out from her eyes, as she fell to the ground.

Raven quickly moved forward and put her hands on her arm.

She sensed… magic.

"Ooohhh…" Bumblebee woke up. "My head…"

Despite herself, Raven asked a question. "Are you okay?"

"Think so. Just…" She then looked around her at the battle, her face horrified. "What did I do? What did _we _do?"

Raven responded in monotone. "Brother Blood hypnotized you."

Bumblebee nodded. "I remember now..." She stood up. "Hey! Aqualad, Speedy, Mas, Menos!"

The four in question; heck, all those present in battle, turned to look at her.

"You shouldn't be doing this! This isn't you!"

Speedy replied menacingly. "You are disobeying the Headmaster. He won't be pleased."

"The Emerald Archer won't be pleased either."

Speedy's face widened in shock. He then began to clutch is head.

Bumblebee turned to the others. "What would your mentors think of you? Hurting other people? That's not what they taught you." Aqualad, Mas, and Menos had similar expression of shock and pain.

"Fight it guys! And wake up!"

The glow faded out of their eyes. Now Raven could sense the mind control, and it was leaving.

"Ohhhh…" Speedy groaned. "Is there a doctor in the house?"

"Esto parece entramos corriendo en una pared…"

"…Dear Neptune, what were we doing!"

Aqualad's face was shocked as they suddenly remembered everything that happened.

Starfire was the first to console them. "Please friends, you were not yourselves!"

Robin finished. "Brother Blood hypnotized you. You had no control over what you were doing."

Mas y Menos looked down, sadly. "Esto no nos hace sentir un poco mejor."

"Save your self-pity," muttered Raven. "We have to go find Cyborg."

Robin nodded. "She's right. Everyone split—"

CLANK CLANK CLANK. The sounds of metallic footsteps interrupted him as dozens of Cyborg-like HIVE robots poured into the room, surrounding the Titans.

"Okay," muttered Robin. "You all heard me."

Bumblebee spoke up. "No. When we split up, we were all beaten. We should go in groups of two. Pick a partner and stick with him."

Robin muttered, a bit surprised. "Good idea."

The robots fired their sonic cannons.

And the Titans dodged.

Robin and Speedy plowed through the robots with their projectiles.

Starfire blew them up with her Starbolts as Mas y Menos spun around in a tornado, bouncing off and destroying robots like a pinball.

Aqualad jumped on a triceratops Beast Boy as the animal and fountains of water plowed through the army.

And Bumblebee and Raven broke through them with force lasers and sharp shadows.

They all went different ways, but they had one goal: Find Cyborg.

And Brother Blood.

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

The latter seemed to be winning at the moment.

WHAM! Cyborg slid backward with the force of a punch, arms over his midsection. WHUMP! A swift kick knocked his head upward.

Brother Blood leaped. CRUNCH! He slammed Cyborg against the ground, face down.

"How do you do it, Cyborg?"

He had his arms over Cyborg's neck; his knees were on top of the metal man's prone body. His face slowly became angrier and angrier.

"I've probed your mind, Cyborg. And I've read your blueprints so many times I probably know them more than you do. And yet I cannot claim your mind!" Blood slammed Cyborg's head into the ground. "Every time I try to change something, my hands slip off. Every time I try to bend something, it refuses to move. What is the thing inside of you the grants you immunity to my powers? What is the thing inside of you that continues to defy me? What is it, Cyborg?" Another slam. "What keeps your mind so firm? TELL ME, CYBORG!"

At every word, he slammed his head into the ground. "WHY. CAN'T. I. HYPNOTIZE YOU?"

SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!

Cyborg was smashed against the ground. His face was aching. He thought for a second his nose could be bleeding.

But in his mind.

Suddenly, something clicked in his head.

And it all came together.

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

"_My brain is half electronic."_

_On its heels: "If I put my mind to it, there're no limits to what I can do. After all, I'm only human."_

"_NO ONE DEFIES BROTHER BLOOD!"_

_Brother Blood came into focus. His moves. His dodges. His powers._

_A great variety…but Cyborg saw…_

_He saw that there was a pattern. _

_He saw that there was a counter._

_He saw he could win._

_But more importantly, he saw right through him._

"_Welcome to the new HIVE Academy!"_

_Something came back to him during his stay there…during the Sadie Hawkins dance._

"_He wasn't always the Headmaster you know." Jinx looked up into the air. "The last Headmistress vanished awhile ago. He took her place."_

_A worried look came onto her features. "I've never really seen him before. He's had connections to the HIVE before…I know that…but he only joined recently. And it's like he suddenly rose to power."_

_He wasn't always head of the HIVE, yet he acted like he did. _

"_Oh, I've had discipline problems before."_

_He never had students before. He wasn't always a member of the HIVE. He only became Headmaster recently. _

_He never cared. It was all an act. All a crazy act._

_He saw right through him…he saw through it all._

"_YOU WEREN'T INVITED!"_

_A lie. A fake. Smoke and mirrors._

_Everything suddenly made sense._

_Cyborg felt his elbow…_

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

…and slammed it out at Blood's midsection.

The evil priest flew through the air and landed on his feet.

Cyborg charged at Brother Blood, arm raised in a fist.

He knew what would happen.

Blood would dodge to the left and duck.

_Dodge to the left and duck!_

Cyborg pivoted and aimed with a right upward kick.

WHAM! Brother Blood's chin was knocked upward as Cyborg through a punch to the body. Blood was sent sprawling, almost to the edge of the rooftop.

He growled as he got up, but then smiled evilly as Cyborg readied his cannon.

ZAP! Brother Blood activated his red shield and deflected the stream of energy to the left, boring a hole into the rock.

And then Cyborg answered with a smile of his own.

CRUMBLE CRUMBLE. Still firing his cannon, he lowered his arm and swept it in a semi-circle around Blood, cutting through the portion of the roof and causing it to fall.

Brother Blood teetered over on the falling platform as it fell. Regaining his balance, he performed an inhuman leap off the chunk of roof.

And straight into Cyborg's grab. SLAM! He pounded him into the ground and tossed him like a parallel. Blood rolled on his side and came to a stop.

Even before he got up, Cyborg was on him with punches to the head.

Blood's face was filled with shock and anger as he avoided the blow by tilting his head. His face then relaxed as he dodged another punch with a head turn. He smiled again as Cyborg missed another blow. Cyborg raised his fist. Brother Blood dodged it with a tilt of the head…

And the he tilted right into Cyborg's other fist. The metal man then swung his outstretched arm to the left, colliding into Blood's cheek. A pair of hooks, and an uppercut connected, then Cyborg prepared for a roundhouse kick.

Blood caught his left foot with both hands, smirking malevolently. His face changed when Cyborg fired a blast of sonic energy. ZAP!

The evil priest was hit in the head at almost point blank range. He rolled around on the ground, and came to a stop on his feet, his face now the definition of angry, his fingers flexing with fury.

Cyborg then spoke. "I see it all now, Brother Blood. It's not the power of my human mind. It's not the power of my robotic body. It's both of them. I'm not human, and I'm not robot either, 'cause I'm CYBORG!"

"AND YOU'RE FINISHED!" Blood fired electricity from his fingers again. Cyborg merely rolled to the side.

"Y'know Blood, I see right through you. You never were after students. You never were after me."

Brother Blood shook with anger. "Of course I'm after you! Why else would I steal YOUR BLUEPRINTS, make robots OUT OF THEM, and brainwash YOUR TEAM?"

Cyborg chuckled. "First, Titans East isn't my team. Not anymore. Second, you're only after me to get what you want. Just like you went after the HIVE. Tell me Brother Blood, what is up with your sudden interest in metahuman children? 'Cause you sure weren't after them before."

Blood's eyes widened at the accusation. "I'm always looking for new students..."

"No you weren't. I see it now Brother Blood. I see right through you. You were never a full member of the HIVE. You were _connected, _but heck, for an organization whose name stood for 'Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Terrorism', who wouldn't be? And then you suddenly jumped from minor shareholder to head of the company. Why? What prompted this? What are you really after? I told you why you couldn't control me, now tell me, why does someone with your powers even **care**?"

Brother Blood's shock was replaced by an ugly look.

"You know nothing, Cyborg. All of you know nothing."

"Well, if you're going to be a teacher, then answer the question. What do you want, Brother Blood? _What are you looking for?_"

The evil priest closed his eyes.

And chuckled.

"What am I looking for? **Why, I'll tell you what I'm looking for!**" His eyes glowed red as he raised his hands. "**I'm looking for destruction! I'm looking for annihilation!** **I'm looking for** **THE END OF EVERYTHING!**"

And he fired a beam of pure red and Cyborg was struck in the chest and he screamed in agony and…

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

_Pain._

_Misery._

_  
People screaming._

_People crying._

_A wasteland of death._

_Chaos. _

_Evil._

_The insane wishes of a madman with only one purpose: To destroy._

_All for destruction. All for chaos. All for death._

_And he saw it all, **was **it all, all the suffering and hate, and it threatened to consume him, his mind, his body, his soul…_

"_Victor…"_

"_Mom?"_

"_Don't give up Victor. Fight him. Don't let this vision come to pass. Believe in yourself."_

"_Believe in myself..."_

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

Against agony, Cyborg threw open his eyes and fired his sonic cannon right into the beam of energy.

He grunted as he tried to maintain the beam.

He thought of his mother's smiling face.

Beast Boy's crazy jokes.

Starfire's innocence.

Robin's drive to succeed.

He thought of the Titans East, a new beacon of hope to the world.

He thought of Terra's sacrifice.

And he thought the inner strength of the dark girl…

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

She appeared in the shadows, already firing the spell even as she cast off her soul self, eyes glowing white, black energy spraying from her palms, and mixing with Cyborg's own.

The circular beam of blue, black, and white mixed together and pushed against the red energies.

Brother Blood strained as though he was pushing a wall.

The red energies grew.

The metal man and the dark girl closed their eyes… and opened them with a loud "HAH!"

The psychic sonic spell was infused with more energy.

It cut through the red like a fiery knife through butter.

It impacted straight at Brother Blood and began flow over and inside its body with its energies.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His hands were flailing in the air as his body was consumed by the crackling colors of black, white, and blue.

And then they stopped. The energy vanished. Raven floated slowly to the ground. Cyborg put his cannon away.

Brother Blood's eyes were closed, his hands and face raised upwards as though he was gesturing to a higher power. He remained in that position for a second.

And then he silently fell forward, head tilted to the side.

Unconscious… and defeated.

* * *

(Fade to black…) 

**Postscript: **The resolution to this climax will come next chapter. This way, it's like a three act episode, with a prologue and an epilogue.

Whew. This was a blast to write. If stuff confuses you…well…it should…but eventually all will be revealed.

Ironically, I wrote this the day after the premier of "Cyborg the Barbarian."

Thanks to Blackshield for beta-reading this. Which reminds me, if you have an idea of where I am going with this, please don't mention it in a review. . Until next time…


	5. An Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Heck, I don't even own certain lines in this fic. All characters are property of…whoever. Not me.**

(Begin fic.)

* * *

**Titans East Tower.**

Sunrise.

The sea and air were clear.

The day… was mildly warmer than the night. Warm enough for Raven to look out from the rooftop.

"Hey."

The quiet greeting made her turn around to face Bumblebee.

Silence.

"Look, Raven… I'm sorry…"

Raven closed her eyes. "Don't be. You were not acting out of your own will."

"Yeah… but I still acted like such a jerk. And… well... the battle." Bumblebee put bundled up her arms as though it was cold.

Raven sighed. "If it makes you feel better, how about we start over?" She extended her hand. "I'm Raven."

Bumblebee shook it. "I'm Bumblebee. A pleasure to meet you."

"Ahem."

Both girls turned to look at Cyborg.

"Erm… Raven… can you wait with the others? I need to speak to Bumblebee… in private."

She looked at him as incredulously as she could.

He sighed. "Look Raven, I just need to clear some things up, okay?"

She breathed outward. "Sure." She disappeared in a wave of black.

Bumblebee turned away from the site of her disappearance. "So what's up Sparky?"

"Who helped you?"

"Pardon?"

"Who helped you spy on the HIVE?"

Her eyes widened in shock, then narrowed. "What makes you think I needed any help?"

Cyborg smirked. "I realized a lot of things during that battle Bee… and one of them was that you certainly didn't do what you did alone. You had a contact. Someone who gave you instructions. In fact, I'm willing to bet that your benefactor tipped off my friends. So who is he?"

She sighed. "I can't say… I know, it sounds like I'm dodging, but I promised not to tell anyone… and I want to keep my promise."

Her eyes opened up.

And her face changed. A look came over her features, an almost enlightened look.

"My 'benefactor' helped me out in more ways you can imagine. When we met I was… well… a wanderer. I had no idea what to do, no clue what to live for. And… I denied it back then, but I felt so alone. But then I met… my contact. And... Cyborg… you have no idea what that meeting did for me. I suddenly found a purpose to my life. I was doing something meaningful. And now…" She waved toward the direction of the Tower. "I'm no longer by myself."

Cyborg nodded. "I should have guessed you'd say that."

She broke from her reverie and turned around. "You're going to meet… my friend… I can't say much more than that. You'll have to trust me on this. My friend will eventually speak to you; I have no doubt about it… I think it'll become clear, Cyborg… I think everything will become clear eventually."

Cyborg then broke out into a smile. "I guess I can buy that... so, does your friend disco?"

Bumblebee chuckled at that. "I really don't think so." She turned serious. "So… Sparky… Cyborg… are you really going to be going?"

He looked out over the horizon. "Yup. I've done some thinking… it's really where I belong. I've been through so much with my friends it's almost like they're family… you understand?"

She nodded. "I do. It's nice of you… to have a good family." She lowered her head.

He turned and walked out for a few paces… then turned around again. "Aren't you comin'? I have ONE last announcement to make as leader."

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

There they were, Titans West and East, all assembled outside on the island before Cyborg.

"Okay y'all… you know this already, but I'm going back West. I know this is kinda crazy, and I know some of you don't want me to leave, but that's where my home is, and… well… there's no place like it." He gave a rueful smile. "That was corny, wasn't it"?

"Don't worry, Cyborg." Robin smirked. "I've done cornier."

Cyborg chuckled. "Well then… like I said, I'm going back West… but I have one last announcement to make as leader…"

Everyone listened with concentration.

"I haven't been here long. But I've been here long enough for you to accept me as your leader. Now you're probably wondering: Who will be leader now?"

Silence.

"Well let me tell you, you already HAVE a leader. You just need to listen to her." And he pointed.

"As my last act as leader, I make Bumblebee head of Titans East."

She was shocked. "Me?"

Beast Boy smirked. "You."

Raven gave a soft smile. "Congratulations."

"It'll be a pleasure following you." Aqualad.

"¡Viva la Bumblebee!" Guess who.

Speedy though, looked up. "Well…"

Bumblebee advanced on him. "Ya got a problem, arrow boy?"

His eyes narrowed. "Look, it's not that I'm against you being leader. It's just that you can't boss us around all the time. Just because your leader doesn't mean you run our lives, got it?"

Silence.

"You know, he's right." Robin's face was a confident smile. "If you're too controlling, no-one will listen to you. Trust me; I learned that the hard way." He pointed his thumb backwards at Cyborg.

"Y'know Robin, sometimes your too smart for your own good."

"Sometimes I think it's my only flaw." Chuckled and smirks were issued from the crowd.

Bumblebee turned to Speedy. "Okay then… I'll let up on things, Bowman. But don't expect me to be soft, either."

Speedy gave his cocky, arrogant smirk. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

**T-T-T-T-T-T**

Cyborg looked behind him.

'_Don't worry, Steel City. You're in good hands.'_

He turned around. Parked was the T-Car and T-Sub… or T-Jet… or whatever it was now.

"Cyborg?" Beast Boy's voice came from behind him. He looked… almost like a little kid.

"Yeah, BB?"

"Cyborg… it's just when you were gone… I thought this time it was for good… I thought everything would fall apart… I thought… I thought… I thought we'd never have another fight over what to eat." He gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, kinda silly."

Cyborg gave a warm smile. "Beast Boy, when I get home, remind me to make you a tofu dinner. Don't worry, it's just for tonight."

Beast Boy's grin turned into a happy smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Suddenly, he pulled Cyborg into a hug.

"Cyborg… I'm glad you're coming back."

"Me too, BB. Me too."

"Cyborg, Beast Boy, let us go home before the _ubersnack_ arrives."

'_Good old Starfire.' _

"See you at home, BB."

"You too, Cy."

They left; the changeling going to the ship, the metal man going into the car.

Cyborg buckled his seatbelt and turned the keys in.

"So…" Cyborg was jolted out of his seat "what _is _going on between you and Bumblebee?"

There she was, Raven, hood up, sitting shotgun, seatbelt in, looking straight ahead.

"Raven! You almost gave me a heart attack there… you're not going with the others?"

She closed her violet eyes. "I said I wouldn't come back until you did, and I have every intention of making sure you come back. But you didn't answer my question. What is the relationship between you and Bumblebee?"

He smiled to himself as he shifted the gear to drive. "I like her…" Raven's face fell. "…As a sister. Why do you ask?"

She looked at him. "I wanted to know if you were going to leave the Tower again anytime soon. Since you're not in a… relationship, you have no excuse to leave Jump City unless we're all leaving. And if you _do _leave, I'm going to bring you back. Again."

Cyborg chuckled to himself. "And the Raven still is sitting, _still is sitting_, on the pallid bust of Pallas above my chamber door."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh nothing Raven. Nothing at all."

* * *

**Steel City Jail.**

The guard watched through the window into the room, as the man wandered around his prison and cursed to himself.

Arms held by handcuffs of pure energy, a psionic inhibitor on his head, the man raised the former up in the air and tried to break them apart.

"Curse you STUPID THINGS!" Brother Blood roared.

The guard shook his head at the captured prisoner and turned back to his guarding position.

Brother Blood was staring at his handcuffs.

_But out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guard turn away._

It was time. He had put on a good enough performance.

They hadn't stripped away one power… heck, they couldn't strip away that power even if they knew about it.

The power of his heritage.

Brother Blood whispered inhuman words.

"_Ny'all ty'ak soho nigur_…"

Suddenly, he glowed pure red.

A huge mass of energy soundlessly flew out and occupied a humanoid shape a few feet away, within the room.

The red energies turned back into two identical men.

One was in his chains. The other was free.

Brother Blood looked at his magically created construct as he waited for his powers to return to normal. It looked exactly like him—would act exactly like he did. It would eat sleep, act human, when it really was an illusion, a fake, a copy, while the real Brother Blood could make an escape.

And escape he did. In a flash of red, he disappeared.

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

**IN TEEN TITANS: TERROR AND TORMENT**

**By Serve the Abbalah/TimeTrapper/IT1000/WorldWalker (I have too many aliases)**

(Fade to black...)

**Postscript: **I love Brother Blood's voice. John DiMaggio does such a great job.

Ahem…well, it's done. Now I can get back to the real meat and potatoes of things.

I very much enjoyed writing this, and I thank whatever forces there are for giving me the idea of this fic. As you have seen, I've kept SOME stuff from the original episode intact…but I've changed some others. And if you have any guesses for the mysteries, well…you can mention them…but don't expect me to talk about them!

Again, Blackshield, I owe you big time for beta-reading this.


End file.
